Am I the only one who doesn't get Tiler Peck? I mean, she's obviously fabulous technician with great energy. Allegro, Tschai Pas, she's brilliant. But I find her one-note -- it's all smiles, happy energy. I can't see her as Odette, for example. She doesn't have the aura (yet). She's young and has lots of time to develop, but I wondered if anyone else felt the same way since I don't think I've ever read anything less-than-glowing about her here.

I felt that way about Peck during her early years at NYCB. I have to say that she has really changed in the last couple of seasons. I noticed her 'new' multi-faceted manner' last year, in Wheeldon's Les Carillons. She was not all smiles last night - quite serious-romantic when appropriate. Ditto Ramasar.

kfw - I'm leaving DC this Friday so was speaking just for the programs during my time here (dring a weekeday); I've now edited & corrected my review. Thanks.

Abi Stafford replaced Taylor in Tchai-2nd mvmt; Abi, I believe, will also dance the role tonight, as originally scheduled.

You will have another opportunity to see Tiler Peck on PBS,when they broadcast the recent performance of Carousel that was performed at the NY Philharmonic. I think the broadcast date is Apr 26, but I'm not sure. As always, check your local listings.

You will have another opportunity to see Tiler Peck on PBS,when they broadcast the recent performance of Carousel that was performed at the NY Philharmonic. I think the broadcast date is Apr 26, but I'm not sure. As always, check your local listings.

I had the pleasure of seeing that Carousel. She was wonderful. In general I find that Tiler Peck is extremely musical. She can elongate a movement to make it sing. Her port de bras beautifully fluid. She can be doing the most brilliantly etched allegro while her upper body floats. Her epaulement (the way she turns and faces her shoulders and head) is beautiful. She has imagination - for me she is one of the ballet best dancers now onstage.

Oh yes, her quality of movement is wonderful. That's what I like about her. Sounds I haven't seen her in the right roles recently (right in terms of stretching my opinion of her). I will look for Carousel when it airs.

I have very little time this morn and will post more on last night's 'Super-Duper Wednesday' performance later. For now, all I can write is:

Ashley Bouder in T&V: It took me 35+ years of ballet-going to see THE performance of my life. I'm still wiped-out with emotions. Bouder is Pure Ballerina. Technique is child's play to her (e.g., her HIGH pas de chats at the end of her solo; gargouillades in the first solo with time to spare, etc.). Musicality and nuances like nobody else. Every step is crystal clear. If I were at my deathbed and given the chance to replay one moment in my life of balletgoing, this would be it....and the moment would be that last bit of solo dancing before the pdd.

Sara Mearns in Swan Lake: Exquisite, plush 'real womanly woman'. Her 'line' would never be accepted in a Russian ballet company but...what a sublime adagio artist! The 'swan' positions that she hit (such as the often-occuring arabesque/back-attitude with incredibly pliant back) are second to none nowadays. Jared Angle offered capable partnering - as if Mearns were a feather! The two solo Black Swans were magnificent: Megan Lecrone in the Pas de Neuf and Lauren King in Valse Bluette.

And now for the Big Surprise for me last night:

Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette absolutely held their own in Allegro Brillante, compared to Peck/Ramasar the night before. Nothing to fault and much to love. Sure, I prefer the nuances and 'face' of Peck but, still, great work from Fairchild. The ensemble was once again wonderful...although there was a tiny slip by one of the 4 gals near the beginning -- but it was on a brief transitional move and she quickly got up and kept going. (This wasn't a Big Flop during a major move by a 'prima' such as, say, 32 fouettes.)

I know that the above does no justice whatsover to the 100% magnificence of last night. I hope that others can be more eloquent (and have more time to write).

I attended yesterday's matinee which included performances of Carousel, Glass Pieces, and Vienna Waltzes. I do not have much time at the moment to go into all of my impressions of a great afternoon of beautiful performances from the dancers, but I was hoping if some of you could elucidate a question I have about Vienna Waltzes: what is the point of Explosions-Polka? Is it meant to be a bit of comic relief? Or is there some history of the polka or Vienna that I am unaware about? Thanks!

off hand, it would seem that Balanchine liked to throw a 'wild card' into his suite-form works from time to time.
see for example, the Costgermonger pas de deux, as a music hall turn, in his UNION JACK.

Tiler Peck was one of the best Swanilda's I've ever seen. It wasn't merely because of her technical magic, but because of her dramatic skills.

She was wonderful in Allegro Brilliante this afternoon, very much in command, and with that million-watt smile of hers. I'd blink and open my eyes and she'd be in an entirely new position. She told the Washington Post that by the end of the ballet, "it feels like you could not possibly do one more step," but she looked liked she could have done the whole thing all over again.

I was pretty disappointed in Kowroski's Swan however, and I'm a big fan of hers. Her face showed no emotion until late in the ballet, and I guess the kind thing to say about her dancing is that it was lyrical. To me it looked little more than marked sometimes, and she just didn't etch those iconic images sharply. Keener eyes may have seen better things. I will say that she moved me by the ballet's end.

As for Fairchild's T&V, she clearly had her heart in it, but she just doesn't have the grandeur when it's called for. The orchestra was glorious all afternoon.

I attended yesterday's matinee which included performances of Carousel, Glass Pieces, and Vienna Waltzes. I do not have much time at the moment to go into all of my impressions of a great afternoon of beautiful performances from the dancers, but I was hoping if some of you could elucidate a question I have about Vienna Waltzes: what is the point of Explosions-Polka? Is it meant to be a bit of comic relief? Or is there some history of the polka or Vienna that I am unaware about? Thanks!

I think "Vienna Waltzes" follows a specific progression. It starts with the pink and innocent "Tales of the Vienna Woods." Next comes "Voices of Spring," which at one artificial, self-conscious remove, like actors playing the innocents. (As late as the '70's there were musicals that played to packed houses in Vienna, with very popular actors in their 30's and 40's playing the parts of the male ingenues.) "Explosion Polka" is dandies and their demimonde ladies. Balanchine used humor here, but there's a social relationship underlying it. "Gold and Silver Waltz" is the jaded Merry Widow sort. "Rosenkavalier" is the transition to the Freudian Vienna, which was fracturing politically, artistically, and philosophically. It doesn't get much more neurotic or narcissistic than the woman who barely notices when her partner has turned imaginary, and the music, with the discordance under the big sweeping themes, reflects a fracturing world.